Colo. No. 8 in national small business friendly ranking

Colorado is ranked as the eighth most small-business-friendly state in the country, while Colorado Springs, Fort Collins and Denver were rated first, 24th and 28th, respectively, among 84 cities, according to a survey conducted by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and Thumbtack.com.

The survey, in which 12,632 entrepreneurs nationwide participated, measures ease of starting a business, ease of hiring employees, effectiveness of government training and networking programs, and the friendliness of local government regulations toward business, health and safety, employment and labor, taxation, licensing, environment and zoning. Only cities that saw 30 or more business people respond to the survey were included in the rankings.

Fort Collins was the second-best city in the country for hiring new workers.

“After a two-month survey of thousands of small business owners nationwide, Fort Collins has earned one of the top grades in the country for the friendliness of its regulations on small businesses,” Jon Lieber, chief economist of Thumbtack.com, said in a statement. “Creating a business climate that is welcoming to small, dynamic businesses is more important than ever, and Fort Collins has shown it understands this — it has received very high marks from small businesses for its regulatory friendliness.”

The top rated cities nationally were Colorado Springs followed by Boise, Idaho; Houston; Austin, Texas; and Louisville, Kent. The lowest-rated were Sacramento, Calif.; Providence, R.I.; Buffalo, N.Y.; Bridgeport, Conn.; and San Diego.